§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether, in the light of paragraph 12.41 of the Invitation to promoters for the development of a Channel Fixed Link, it is their intention to claim a territorial sea up to the median line in the English Channel; if so, whether they intend extending all British territorial waters to 12 nautical miles or (where appropriate) the median line; whether, until such a claim has been effected, the United Kingdom has the power to authorise any work in the Straits of Dover; and whether the rights they claim in the territorial sea are limited to those set out in the 1958 Geneva Convention or those set out in the UNLOSC Convention of 1982.
§ The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Young)Her Majesty's Government have been considering the extension of the territorial sea to 12 miles first in the context of a possible signature of the UN Law of the Sea Convention and later in the light of their decision not to sign. The possible timing and circumstances of any such move are among the matters under consideration. In any case, the United Kingdom has, in our view, the right under customary international law to authorise the undertaking of works such as those connected with a Channel Fixed Link provided that due account is taken of the interests of navigation. United Kingdom jurisdiction within the territorial sea reflects the 1958 Geneva Convention on the Territorial Sea and subsequent developments in international law and practice.